The Road Trip
by blanchards
Summary: AU: Neal, Emma and Henry decide to go on a road trip on her 28th birthday and it doesn't turn out the way it was planned.
1. Storybrooke

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.**

**AN: I'm having a lot of SwanThief feels and I feel the need to let them all out! I was really overwhelmed and inspired by the response I got on my first Emma/Neal fanfic that I decided to write more. And it's a bit of a sequel to the other story.**

**This is an AU in which Neal never left Emma because his encounter with August didn't happen and neither of them knows about the curse. They will get to Storybrooke eventually and as much as I think Neal is Bealfire, I'm not still sure if I'll write him as Bea in this story. I know that "no stranger comes to Storybrooke" but let's make an exception this time in case he's not Bea. **

**English is not my first language so I apologize for any mistakes. Enjoy and **_**please**_** review! :) **

Emma Swan woke up alone on her bed with the sound of laughter and the smell of hot chocolate coming from the other room.

She rubbed her eyes and realized what day it was.

It was her 28th birthday and it was going to be a great birthday. They had the week off and her family planned a road trip. She was really looking forward to that.

She always wanted to go to Boston and since that was one of the places Neal and her never got the chance to go to, she chose it. She knew she would spend her birthday on the road but it didn't really matter, she was used to it.

Emma got up from the bed and walked to the kitchen to find her two boys laughing and having fun with each other while making breakfast. She stood by the hallway just looking at them. It was moments like these she loved the most.

When she was little all she wanted was a family who loved her unconditionally and she never got that. It was like a dream every time she looked at her family and realized how blessed she was now.

Her ten-year-old son looked disappointed once he saw her out of her room.

"Mom! You're not supposed to leave your room. Dad and I were going to take the breakfast to you in bed, it's a surprise!"

Neal smiled at his son and walked over to Emma.

"Happy birthday!" He kissed her and after they broke apart he shot a look at Henry.

"Oh, right. Happy birthday, mom!" The kid came running towards his mother to give her a hug.

"Thank you." She kissed her son's head. "I can come back to bed if that's the problem? I didn't mean to ruin your surprise."

"Yes, go." Henry let go of his mother and turned her around so she could go back to her room.

Neal chuckled and went back to the oven to finish the pancakes.

A few minutes later father and son entered the bedroom singing "Happy Birthday".

Neal leaned down to give Emma another kiss and Henry made a face. He was used to it but now he was starting to get to that age when kids are disgusted by their parent's displays of affection.

Emma broke the kiss and smiled. She then gave her son a hug.

Once the family had finished their breakfast Neal took everything back to the kitchen and Emma got up from her bed.

"Come on, Henry. We have a big day ahead of us so let's get ready."

Henry nodded and went to his room.

For her 28th birthday Emma wanted to go on a trip. Back when she and Neal were young and before they had Henry, the couple spent months visiting new places in their yellow bug.

They decided to move to Tallahassee and soon they found out they were expecting a child. As much as both Emma and Neal loved the idea to settle down and eventually they got used the life as parents, they really missed their old days. So they planned to go on road trips every now and then.

Henry loved it, too. The kid had such a curious little mind and loved to meet new places. It didn't take long for the kid to get used to spend days on the road.

The family was finally ready to go so they put their bags inside the car, the same yellow bug they've had for years, and the three of them got in. Emma turned on the radio and their trip started.

They spent the entire day on the road and they still had another day to go. For entertainment they would play road trip games and make up stories about people they've seen in other cars. They had lunch at a diner and slept at a motel for the night.

They continued on their trip the next day, had lunch at a diner again and Emma and Neal kept switching turns at the steering wheel.

Hours later they caught a storm and Emma, who was driving at the time, got a little bit lost.

It was late in the afternoon and the sun was starting to go down. Emma looked at the backseat and saw that Henry had fallen asleep. When she looked at the passenger's seat she found her husband leaned over the window taking a nap.

She sighed in frustration once she realized she was lost. With no one in sight, she shook Neal awake.

Neal hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep and was taken aback when he was woken up. "What? I'm awake. What is it?"

"I think I'm – we're lost."

"What do you mean we're lost?"

"The storm… I couldn't really see where I was going but I kept going. Now I have no idea where we are."

"It's okay, we'll just keep going until we can spot someone or something."

Emma nodded and put her hands back on the steering wheel.

It was half an hour later when Neal finally saw something.

"Look, a sign!"

Emma looked over to where Neal pointed and read the sign.

"Welcome to Storybrooke. Well, at least it's something."

"We should go in and ask for directions."

"Yeah."

The yellow bug rolled into town and it took a few minutes until they could finally spot someone.

"I wonder where we are, this town looks dead."

"It does, doesn't it? It's like our car is the only colorful thing around here."

Neal chuckled and opened the door to get out of the bug. Emma did the same as a handsome stranger was coming their way.

"Hello. May I help you?"

The man had an accent and Neal wasn't found of the way he was looking at his wife. He saw the man had a sheriff badge.

"Yes. Hum, where are we exactly?"

"This is Storybroke, Maine."

"Maine?" Neal looked at Emma. "How did we end up in Maine?"

"I honestly have no idea." She looked at the sheriff. "We were on our way to Boston but we sort of got lost. Could you give us any directions?"

The sheriff looked down trying to think of what to say when he realized he had never left the town so he didn't have any directions in mind.

"I- I'm sorry but I honestly can't remember any directions right now. Maybe we could get to the station and look at a map."

Neal really wasn't liking this guy. It was getting late and he thought it was better to stay in town until the morning.

"Excuse us for a moment." He said as he pulled Emma aside to have a word with her.

"What is it?"

"It's late, maybe we should just find a place and stay until tomorrow."

"I would disagree with you if I weren't so tired. I guess it's for the best."

Neal turned and looked back at the sheriff. "We were thinking of staying the night, is there any place you would recommend?"

"Sure. There's Granny's Bed and Breakfast right down the street."

"Thank you." Emma and Neal said.

"No problem. And if you still need directions you can stop by at the station. My name is Graham, by the way." He smiled at Emma.

"Bye, Graham." Neal shot him a look and quickly got into the driver's seat.

Emma walked into the car with a small on her lips.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"That look you gave him. Were you jealous?"

"Of course I was. Didn't you notice the way the guy was looking at you?"

"Oh, honey, come on! He was just trying to be helpful."

"Yeah, right. Let's just get to this Granny's place."

Emma kept the smile on her lips. She actually loved when he was jealous but she would never admit that to him.

Once they got to Granny's Bed and Breakfast Emma woke up Henry and they got their bags out of the car.

They barely got into the inn when they heard someone shouting. "You're out all night and now you're going out again!"

They opened the door and another voice came through the stairs. "I should've moved to Boston!"

"I'm sorry that my heart attack interfered with your plans to sleep your way down the Eastern Seaboard."

Neal cleared his throat. "Excuse me?"

The older woman turned around and looked at the family in shock.

"Hi, how can I help you?"

"We'd like a room." Emma answered the woman.

"Would you like a forest view or a square view?"

"The square view would be fine."

"What's the name?"

"Cassidy. Neal Cassidy." The woman handed the keys to Neal and they walked into their room.

The family got settled and ready for bed. Henry had slept for a few hours but that didn't mean the kid was going to stay up. It's been a long couple of days and he was still pretty tired.

While the three of them were fast asleep, the town's clock did something it hadn't done for a long while. It moved.


	2. Familiar Faces, Familiar Places

**AN: Thank you so much for the feedback! As to a few questions asked:  
Emma arrived in Storybrooke the day after her birthday (because it's a two day trip and to be honest I didn't think about it when I wrote it) unlike on the show.  
Henry's name doesn't have any connection to Regina, I just didn't change his name because we know him as Henry and it would be weird to change it.  
The journey will be similar to what we've seen on the show but will also be a bit different due to the circumstances Emma is in.  
And I decided that Neal **_**is**_** Bealfire in here.  
Other questions will be answered in the next chapters :) **

**Enjoy and again, **_**please**_** review!**

The next day Emma, Neal and Henry woke up to have breakfast at Granny's. They planned on going to the sheriff's station later to get the map and directions to Boston.

As they sat on the booth and ordered, Henry had an idea.

"Mom, dad. Before we go, can we just walk around the town for a while?"

Neal looked at Henry with a frown on his face. "Why, bud? It doesn't look like there's much to do in this town."

"I don't know, I just have a strange feeling about it. I'd like to check it out."

Neal looked at Emma who appeared to be lost in thoughts. "Emma? What do you think, honey?"

She shook her head putting her thoughts aside and looked at her husband and son. "Yeah, sure."

Ever since they got to this town she had a strange feeling about it much like Henry. She didn't quite know what it was but she felt like it was all really familiar, especially the people.

As a little girl Emma had been in so many houses in different cities but she never felt like she truly belonged anywhere. When she met Neal and they got settled, she forgot about the feeling because she had her family who made her feel complete and she finally had a place she could call home.

The thing is, she never really knew any family besides Neal and Henry and she could never shake the feeling that she had been abandoned.

Once the family finished their breakfast and paid, they left the diner looking to explore the city as Henry wished.

Emma got distracted talking to her son when she bumped into someone on the sidewalk.

The woman was holding a couple of books that fell on the floor once she bumped into Emma. Both of them got down to pick up the books while apologizing to each other.

"I'm so sorry, I got distracted."

"It's okay, I wasn't looking." The woman turned her head up and smiled at Emma and they kept staring at each other for a moment.

The woman was young and had short ebony hair. Emma had never seen this woman before in her life but she felt an instant connection to her.

Seconds later the two women were back on their feet but not taking their eyes off each other. Neal cleared his throat trying to break the awkward silence between them.

"I'm sorry but are you new in town? I don't remember seeing the three of you around." The strange woman asked the family.

Emma was the one to answer. "Yes, sort of. We were on our way to Boston but we got lost and ended up here."

"Oh. If you need any directions you should stop by the sheriff station. And enjoy the town while you're here. My name is Mary Margaret, by the way." She finally turned away from Emma and smile at Neal and Henry.

"Thank you. I'm Neal, this is Emma and our son, Henry."

Mary Margaret t**ensed** up once she heard Emma's name. She had no idea how but she felt like she heard that name before. She smiled at the family. "Well I should get going. Nice meeting you."

Emma nodded. "You, too."

Mary Margaret continued to walk down the street and entered Granny's diner while Emma, Neal and Henry walked the other way.

A few seconds later a small shop caught the little boy's attention.

"Look, mom. This shop looks pretty cool."

"It does. I wonder what they sell."

They walked over to the wall and noticed a few golden globes that seemed quite old.

Neal looked closely at the globes and had a thought. "It's a globe, maybe there's a map in there. Should we go in?"

"You really don't wanna go to the sheriff's station, do you?" Emma had a smirk on her face.

"Not really." He didn't like the way the sheriff looked at his wife the night before so he was happy to find an excuse not to run into the sheriff again.

"Let's go in, please?" Henry looked up at his mother.

"Sure, why not."

The family walked into the shop but there was no one in sight. Neal looked around and noticed a familiarity in the air. It was like he had seen some of the things that were there before.

Emma was fascinated by a unicorn mobile. It was so beautiful and delicate it looked like it was made out of diamonds. She was about to touch it but a stranger's voice made her stop.

"Charming, isn't it?"

"Excuse me?"

"The mobile."

"Yes, it's lovely."

Emma figured the man owned the store so she turned around to look at Neal so they could ask for a map and get directions.

Neal stood in shock once he heard the man's voice.

Right before him was his father. Someone he hadn't seen in over 15 years.

But how could it be possible?

They were from a different land and the only way to get out of there was through portals and as he was told, it wasn't possible to make a portal anymore. The portal he went through was the last one that could've been opened.

He had a million thoughts in his head and he couldn't get himself to say a word.

Emma tried to bring him back from his thoughts but he only looked at her still in shock.

He hadn't told her his real past. All he's told her was that he came from a complicated family and he ran out when he was 14. He had been living on his own ever since.

It wasn't a complete lie. The only part he kept from her was that he actually came from a different world. Not that he didn't trust her but she would think he was crazy, right? It was better if she didn't know any of it. That would also help him forget.

He looked back at the man. There weren't any signs that he recognized him so he felt relieved for a moment. He didn't have to deal with it at this very second.

"Neal, are you okay?"

He turned at Emma and even though she could still see that he wasn't okay, he managed to get a few words out. "Yeah, I'm okay. Let's just get the map and go."

"Okay…" She knew something was wrong with him but she figured it wasn't the time to discuss it.

"We were wondering if you have any maps? We got lost and ended up in this town." Emma asked the shop owner.

"Sure. I have some in the back of the shop. Let me get it for you." The man turned around and went to the other part of the store.

"Neal, I can tell you're not okay. Once we're out of this shop you can tell me what's going on."

He nodded and sighed.

Meanwhile, Henry was on the other side of the shop with a book in his hands. His parents hadn't even noticed he's been reading this whole time. The young boy closed the book and walked over to his parents.

"Can I get this?" He showed the cover of the book to his father.

"Fairytales?" Emma took the book in her hands.

"I don't think it's just some fairytales. There's something about this book… Please, please, can I get it?" Henry shot his parents his puppy eyes and he knew they wouldn't resist.

"Fine. We get the book and the map and we get out of here." Neal was starting to get agitated. He honestly didn't know how he was going to handle this situation.

Within a few seconds the man came back holding a map.

"Here it is. Did anything else catch your eyes?"

"Yes, we're also taking this book." Emma took her wallet out of her purse and handed the money to him.

"I like to keep all of the information about what I sell. If you don't mind, could you give me a name?"

The man looked at Emma and turned his head to Neal, who opened his mouth but before he could say a word, Emma told him her name.

"Swan. Emma Swan."

"Emma." All of the sudden there was a spark in the man's eyes as if the name did something to him. "What a lovely name."

"Thanks." She took the map and handed the book to Henry. "Goodbye."

The owner nodded and the family walked out.

Once they were outside the shop, Emma turned to Neal.

"Okay. Tell me what just happened."

"What happened?"

The family continued their walk and Henry opened his book, not paying attention to his parents' argument.

"Don't play dumb with me. I can tell something's wrong. Why did you get so pale and speechless all of the sudden in that shop?"

"I – You know I love you, right?"

Emma nodded but a frown formed on her face. What the hell was going on?

Neal figured it wasn't the time to reveal his past to her. As much as he loved and trusted her, he needed to sit down and tell her the entire story.

He had no choice now. They could just leave the town and forget he ever saw his father again. But he had no idea how his father got there and something inside of him just wanted answers. And he had _a lot_ of questions.

"I can't tell you anything right now. It's just not the moment or the place. But I will eventually, I promise."

She would argue with him but she trusted him and he knew he wasn't get out of this without telling her exactly what made him stood there in shock. So she agreed with him and they kept exploring the little town.

There really wasn't much to do or see in this place and by noon they got back to the inn. There weren't many restaurants either, so they had lunch at Granny's.

The family got back to their room and while Emma opened the map on the bed Henry opened his book and started reading from where he left.

Neal sat down on the bed and looked at Emma. He had something in mind all morning and he didn't know how to ask her. He took a deep breath.

"Ems, what would you think if we – if we stayed in town for a while?"

"What do you mean? Stay here? But you said it yourself, there's not much to do."

"I know but… I know you want to go to Boston and we can still go. Apparently it's not that far from here and we still have the whole week. Let's just stay here for a couple of days."

She had no idea where this was coming from but she had to admit she thought about it. It was that feeling once again that there was something about this town. Maybe if they stayed here for some time she could figured it out.

"I think it'd be okay with me. Henry?"

Her son took his eyes off his book and looked at Emma.

"Would you like to stay in town for a couple of days?"

When they were walking through town they noticed Henry's little eyes sparkling at every different thing he saw. For the adults the down looked dead and nothing really caught their attention.

But for Henry's little mind, with such imagination they couldn't even keep up with, it was a mysterious town and he was looking forward to find out what was in store for him.

A bright smile crossed Henry's lips at his mother's question.

"Yeah, I would really like to."

"Okay so it's settled. I'm going to tell Granny we'll be staying for a few more days."

Neal leaned down to brush his lips against Emma's and walked out of the room.

Henry kept his eyes on the book and suddenly something popped into his head when he peeked at the last pages. He had a theory he was definitely going to share with his mother.


	3. The Truth

**AN: Thank you for the reviews and follows :) I'm a bit unmotivated with fanfiction right now because my insecurities about my writing are getting bad. Like I've said before, English is not my first language so I apologize for the vocabulary. As much as I've read tons of fanfiction and other different things in English, my writing vocabulary isn't so great. Also I know this story might be going a little too fast but due to what's been mentioned above, I don't plan on doing too many chapters, right now I only plan on writing one more chapter, maybe two. This also made me decide that in this story David **_**is not**_** in a coma but is living with Kathryn and I left out a lot of things, including August. **

**I hope you enjoy the third chapter and please tell me what you think.**

It was their second day in town and the family still couldn't shake the feeling that this place was too familiar.

Two of them had no idea why, but one of them knew exactly.

Neal hadn't told Emma what happened the other day at that shop, but he knew she wouldn't let it go so easily. He spent the entire night thinking about how he could tell her the truth about his past without her thinking he was crazy.

But it was crazy, wasn't it? How could anyone in this world believe in all the things he'd seen and known as a child? In a world without magic, fairytales only existed in everyone's imagination and any of it couldn't possibly be true.

But she trusted him. His _wife_ had to believe in him.

While Henry went down to get himself a cup of hot chocolate, his parents were in their room.

Emma got out of the bathroom and Neal asked her to sit down on the bed. He looked scared, like he was about to tell her something important but didn't know what her reaction would be.

She did as he asked but with a confused look on her face. "What is it?"

"About what happened at the shop… You remember what I told you about my past, right?"

"Yes."

"I didn't really lie to you but some things were left unsaid."

Neal looked at her expecting a reaction and Emma only nodded for him to continue.

"I did leave my house when I was fourteen, but I didn't only leave my house, I left my… I left the place I lived in."

Emma was starting to look concerned. "What are you trying to say?"

"I know this is going to sound crazy, but you _have_ to believe me." He took a deep breath and looked down at his lap. He was scared to face her. He was scared of what she would think about this insanity.

"Neal, you're starting to worry me." Emma put her hands on his trying to encourage him to tell her what he needed to say.

"Well, I'm not – I'm not really from this world." He looked up and stared at her eyes.

"What – what do you mean _this world_? What, are you an alien or something?" She needed to add a joke to break the tension. And she saw it worked for a moment once she noticed him chuckling.

"No, I'm not an alien. I don't – I really don't know how to tell you this but here we go. I come from a different world, Emma. A world with magic."

"Magic?"

"I know this is really, really hard to believe. I know how stubborn and skeptic you are but please take a moment before you throw this out of the window."

She knew how stubborn she was and she was the most skeptical person Neal knew. She had a hard time believing in things she couldn't see with her own eyes.

Her husband was telling her things she would never believe in a million years, but the look in his eyes were telling her this wasn't a joke. She really needed to see where he was trying to go with this so she decided to play along.

"Okay… And how would you end up here? "

"It's really complicated. There were these portals and, like I said I sort of lived in a troubled household and I just wanted to get out of there. Magic was ruining my family and once I found out I could get rid of it, go to a place without it, I took my chance."

Emma kept staring at him. She would think he was talking nonsense but it was the way he was telling her, the sadness in his voice, she couldn't ignore it or let it go.

"Okay, let's say it's true."

Neal sighed. Of course she wouldn't believe him as easy like that.

"What does this have to do with that shop?"

Now _that_ was the subject he wasn't ready to face, but it was why he told her the truth in the first place.

"That man… the owner, he's… he's my father."

"What?!"

As soon as Emma asked the question Henry entered the room.

"Mom!"

He walked in with his book on his hands and as soon as he noticed that his parents appeared to be talking about something important, he stopped by the door.

Neal looked at Emma and nodded to let her know they would continue the conversation later. Emma turned her head and looked at Henry.

"I'm sorry to interrupt." Their son apologized.

"It's okay, what is it?" Neal gave the kid a smile.

"I was just reading my book and mom, you have to see this!"

Emma looked at where Henry was pointing and saw a drawing of a man carrying a baby and putting the baby inside some sort of wardrobe. She noticed the baby was wrapped in a blanket with the name "Emma" embroidered along the bottom of it.

She figured Henry came to show her the picture because there was her name on it, but the kid had other things in mind.

"Oh it's my name. That's nice, kid."

"No, but it's not just that."

Henry sat down and told his parents what was on the book and most importantly, his new theory.

"So you're telling me that my parents put me on a magical wardrobe and sent me to this world to save them?"

First Neal, now Henry? What was going on with her boys?

"I know this sounds crazy, but mom, you don't know what happened to your parents and while I was reading I kept looking around the diner and I swear some people in this town look a lot like the drawings in my book! I know you can feel something in here too, that must be it!"

Emma turned to look at Neal, who looked as shocked as he was at the shop the day before.

"Did you give something to the kid? What is going on with you two today?"

"What is she talking about?" Henry asked at his father and then Neal explained to Henry what he was telling his mother a few minutes ago.

Everything started to make sense in Neal's mind when Henry told them the stories in the book. When he saw his father he had no idea how could he have possibly come to this world and it explained all of the weird things he was feeling towards this town.

The only problem now was to make Emma believe in them. This was way too much for her to process and he didn't know what to do now. Or what she could do.

Emma got up from the bed and took Henry's book in her hands. When she did so, her head was up and her eyes widely open staring at the space in front of her.

When the book was in her hands she saw images of what Henry had told her. A couple crying while saying goodbye to their baby. A man fighting with a sword in one of his hand and the baby in the other. The man placing the baby inside a wardrobe and saying goodbye one more time asking the baby to _find them_. She instantly knew it was more than just imagines. It was _her life_.

"Emma?!" As soon as her name came out of Neal's lips, Emma threw Henry's book on the bed and looked at them in shock and managed to say the words she didn't think would leave her mouth so soon.

"It's true."


End file.
